CHAPTER II. 



"Ho ! forth my sword ! Ho! up my men ! 

 My standard's folds uprear ; 

 Look out! my ancient enemies, 

 The ocean thieves, are here." 



— Charlem.\gxe and the Sea-Kin'gs. 



"Here, Athelstan, King — of earls the lord, of barons the bracelet-giver — 

 and eke his brother Edmund the Etheling, won life-long glory in battle, with 

 edges of swords, near Brunanburh 



" Carnage greater has not been in this island, of people slain." — Saxon Ode 

 on the Battle of Brunanburh. 



rr^HERE is a well-known earthwork called the Dyke or Dykes, 

 -■- situated in the neighbourhood of Broadclough, Bacup. This 

 singular monument of a bygone age is well worthy of a visit. By a 

 slight exercise of the imagination the spectator may cause to pass 

 before his mental vision the scenes long since enacted in its vici- 

 nity, and associate in spirit with the sturdy Danish warriors who in 

 all probability manned and defended the intrenchment. 



Rossendale is not rich in relics; but for extent and importance 

 the Dykes at Broadclough eclipse a multitude of lesser archaeo- 

 logical remains to be found in other localities. This work is 

 described by Dr. Whitaker, the historian, as an "intrenchment to 

 which no tradition is annexed that may serve to ascertain either 

 its antiquity, or the end it was designed to answer. It is cut from 

 the gentle slope of a rising ground, in one direction, nearly parallel 

 to the horizon, for more than six hundred yards in length, not 

 exactly in a right line, but following the little curvatures of the 

 surface. In one part of the line, for about a hundred yards, it 

 appears to have been levelled, and in another, where it crosses a 



